Amazon erases certain books on Kindle due to content

While that type of book definitely has a niche market, this is an unusual move from Amazon which recently defended the sale of Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasuresaying:

“Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.”

Amazon did an about face with the Pedophile’s Guide, removing the book without comment. Now it’s going after self-published author Selena Kitt, which wrote a novel that addresses the theme of “incest-themed erotica”, as well as several other authors that write on the same topic. Kitt writes in a blog post,

“I want to be clear that while the subject of incest may not appeal to some, there is no underage contact in any of my work, and I make that either explicitly clear in all my stories or I state it up front in the book’s disclaimer,” Kitt writes”I don’t condone or support actual incest, just as someone who writes mysteries about serial killers wouldn’t condone killing.”

Worse, the authors allege that Amazon has been deleting these books from Kindles remotely. Amazon claims this was a technical glitch and those books are now available to be downloaded if already purchased prior to their ban from the Kindle store.

None of this is new to Amazon which in July 2009, indiscriminately removed copies of 1984 from Kindles without the end users permission (how Orwellian!). After a law suit was filed and settled, Amazon agreed to legally binding terms that entailed its content deletion policy. When it came to books, Amazon will only delete books from a Kindle for the following reasons: failed credit card transactions, judicial orders, malware, or the permission of the user.